Recruit Talk: Turner’s decision, Graham and Newman

Myles Turner announced this week that he’ll make his college decision on Wednesday, April 30th on ESPNU, around 3 pm CST. Also, Bill Self will meet with Turner on Easter Sunday, Turner’s father confirmed to ZagsBlog.

Turner, the highest ranked unsigned player left in the 2014 class, is a 6-foot-11 center from Trinity High in Euless, Texas. The McDonald’s All American could come in right away and replace Joel Embiid’s production.

Myles Turner has had a chance to spend a lot of time with Cliff Alexander and Kelly Oubre over the past few weeks as they’ve played in the McDonald’s All American game, the Nike Hoops Summit and most recently, the Jordan Brand classic, which was last night.

“He says he’s just weighing out his options right now,” Cliff Alexander said after the Jordan Brand Classic. “Me, Kelly [Oubre] and Joel have been talking to him. Joel talked to him earlier [Friday] at the hotel trying to get him to commit. Hopefully, he does that.”

In addition to Kansas, Yakwe said that Syracuse and Villanova are both recruiting him.

Yakwe recently played in the 201 Jordan Brand International Game. A member of the White Team, he scored 13 points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field and had two rebounds in 19 minutes. He also hit two of his three three-point attempts.

Newman has mostly taken a hands-off approach when it comes to recruiting – he’d much rather just work out and play basketball – but he has begun to think about what he wants out of a school. Early playing time and a track record of putting players in the NBA are major considerations for him.

And a winning program.

“Winning will be a big thing because I don’t like to lose,” Newman said. “I would like to go to a team that makes the (NCAA Tournament) consistently.”

Since sixth grade, Newman has won a championship every year. He’s already won three state championships at Callaway and has his eyes set on a fourth next year. Newman isn’t used to losing and that will be a factor when it comes time to picking a school.

“Malik doesn’t know what it’s like to lose,” Webster said. “Every time he’s laced it up, he’s won a championship. He doesn’t know what it’s like to be home during playoff time or to not win a gold ball. He might have a nervous breakdown if he doesn’t win a championship.”

Devonte Graham visits Kansas

Devonte Graham, a 6-foot-2 point guard from Brewster Academy, is finishing up his visit to Kansas today. Graham was recently let go out of his letter of intent by Appalachian State and has opened his recruiting back up.

Graham will choose between North Carolina State, Providence, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

“When he (Devonte) first contacted me last spring, when he made up his mind that he wasn’t going to ‘App State,’ I saw video and talked to people and they said it was a no-brainer. Those people told me that he was a guard that could play at the highest level. From coaching Devonte all year, that is very evident,” Brewster coach Jason Smith told JayhawkSlant.com recently.

“He’s as good as any point guard we’ve had during my tenure at Brewster,” Smith added. “He’s kind of a combination of a few different guys. He’s explosive like Semaj Christon (Xavier). He runs the team and makes decisions well. He guards like Dogus Balbay, who played at Texas, so I knew once Devonte received his release, he’d be recruited by the highest-level program.”

Graham thinks highly of his passing ability.

“I think that I have true point guard skills,” said Graham. “I control the game, I can pass and run the offense, but I can also make plays for myself and others. Most people call me a play-making point guard. … Coach (Bill) Self has always been honest with me. He hasn’t promised me anything and I’ll have to work for everything (playing time). The opportunity to have an impact is there.”

Chase Jeter cuts list to six, includes Kansas.

Chase Jeter, a 6-foot-10, 220-pound center from Las Vegas’ Bishop Gorman High, tweeted his list of six schools on Thursday.

Jeter is ranked in the top 20 by most recruiting services in the class of 2015.

Kansas Oregon UNLV Duke Ucla Arizona Planning on a commitment before July. Thank you to all the schools who’ve recruited me.